Family Time
by Helena Mira
Summary: Now that the new baby is here, it is time for the Everetts to begin their new life with their newest member. A series of anecdotes from the perspective of the different family members gives us a glimpse into their lives.
1. Chapter 1

_I do not own these characters and make no profit from their use._

**Family Time**

**Prologue**

After his talk with Topher, Pastor Jason realized that he needed to separate Topher and Trelawney for a few days so that things could simmer down. Topher was very excited by all of his realizations about her and his own incipient understanding of who he was. But if he asked Trelawney too many questions that were on point, she would tell him the truth, a truth that Topher was still unable to fully comprehend at this time.

He was still not ready to learn the complete meaning of being a child of light. Therefore, it was better if he had no idea of this aspect of his identity. Unlike reading auras, there were no books written on the subject. If you were not brought up in the culture, you had to figure it out on your own. It was not something to be learned. It was something to be known. And anyone familiar with the Platonic dialogue "The Meno," would understand that.

But even worse was his dawning knowledge of the potential, perhaps even probable, role of Trelawney in his life. The five-year age gap that separated them now was an enormous, yawning chasm of maturity and time that would be nearly meaningless in ten years. At this moment, while Topher was on the very brink of coming into his own manhood, Trelawney was still a little girl. Therefore, if Topher's instincts were on target, then a separation was definitely in order.

Topher must go out in the world and make his own way. He must meet first girls and then women of his own age to date. He must finish his education. In order for his gifts to fully benefit humankind, they must first be nurtured and cultivated. He must also face the reality of who Trelawney was. He must meet the young woman Trelawney and see for himself the limitations of her social and emotional growth.

If there were an element of destiny in his newfound discovery of her, then the strands of fate would bring them both to the proper time and place for this realization on both their parts. That time would come only after Topher had acquired the wisdom to make such a choice and Trelawney had developed a modicum of the maturity needed to understand her own emotions and all their ramifications for any relationship with a man.

After considering several courses of action, he finally decided to call up Rob and ask him to take Trelawney away for a vacation until school started. This would allow for a cooling off period for Topher. When they returned, both young people would be very busy starting school. When he was once again in his own familiar milieu and away from the Figalilly world of intuition and metaphysics, he would be able to clear his mind and return to his own world of pragmatism and science. With any luck, he would win a scholarship to some university far away.

His plan was to tell Rob that he was concerned that he and Catherine had pushed themselves very hard all summer and that they needed a break. He wanted Trelawney to go with them because he didn't want Phoebe to have to worry about five children. And Hal's family did need time to work a few things out on their own in terms of bonding with one another and running the house.

The three older children needed to become accustomed to sharing their lives, and their new mother, with their youngest sibling. He was not really too happy that Butch and Prudence had been kept up at Rob's house and Emmeline had stayed to run the house for the first week of Maisie's life. It had only delayed the inevitable and would make it a bigger shock for Hal and Phoebe when the other children returned and they had to resume their own management of the household. Prudence would certainly need extra attention. Hers was the biggest adjustment of all.

The elder Hal had also become very used to letting his parents step in whenever things got complicated. Their helpfulness was gradually returning to its former enabling behavior. It would do him good to take care of a few complications on his own. He had no commitments until January other than his research work. Having so many people relying on him at home would keep him away from the university for a couple of weeks and perhaps make him indispensable in a few other ways. It would hopefully make him less apt to fill up his time there when things got difficult.

Of all of them, the one who would potentially be hurt the most was Trelawney, who would most definitely miss her sister and her new niece. But she was a resilient child. She had her own means of coping. If she needed to employ them, it would undoubtedly give Catherine a more realistic view of the child that she was dealing with. He felt bad for the girl and Phoebe.

They wanted to be together and Hal was now willing to accept her into his home as she was. But the timing was wrong. He couldn't say why. That had not been revealed to him. All that he could tell the child and her sister was that when the time was right then they wouldn't have to ask. They would know. He hoped that it wouldn't be because of any troubles on the part of the elder Everetts, but they were both no longer young. And Catherine, he knew, was the one thing that was holding back Hal, Phoebe, and Trelawney from even broaching the topic.

It had been odd, but when he had seen Maisie earlier that week, he had been able to detect nothing about her that indicated that she was different from any other baby. Perhaps she was too young. But other than a very deep bond with her mother, nothing was apparent. However, it may have been because he was so focused on Phoebe at the time of their meeting. It was a pity that like Trelawney, she felt responsible for Cholmondeley's demise.

It had been the only way. Unless he had accepted the offers of Liam and Topher to walk towards the light, he would have always been a threat to the girls. He suspected that it was ultimately the dark forces that had cut him loose. He was no longer of value to them and perhaps even in his heart had wanted to accept the love of God. It was impossible to know. As he had told the others, it was not for them to question the mind of God.

As for the Princess, her release by the forces of darkness might make her less effective, but her cunning and guile would keep her going as the local medium with the other world, at least for the time being. With any luck, she would commit some great blunder and have to move along to find a new set of gullible marks in a new place and town.

For now, he planned to take this lull in activity as a reprieve for himself and his family. They also deserved his attention and he in turn missed them. It was a year now since he had taken on the care of Trelawney. The work was arduous, perhaps not in body but in mind and spirit. When she returned, he would no doubt need all his strength to help her face her next set of challenges.

**Big Sisters**

Prudence felt uncertain about lots of things right now. She had thought that everything would be wonderful when the baby came. She had just _known _that she would be a girl and that she would finally have the baby sister that she had always wanted. But she hadn't realized that you couldn't actually play with baby sisters until they got bigger. And she hadn't realized how long that it was that they were so small that all they could do was eat and sleep and poop, as Butch kept saying. Babies in the movies and on TV grew up so quickly. But real life wasn't the same as a movie or TV show.

She had thought that maybe sometimes Mommy would let her give Maisie a bottle, like she did with her dollies. But Maisie didn't drink bottles. Well, Maisie drank from Mommy. And when she did, Mommy and Maisie looked very happy. Butch said it was gross and every time that Maisie was hungry he left the room. Daddy and Hal weren't bothered by it. Daddy even said that in the world most little babies were fed by their Mommies, just like baby kittens and puppies.

So she asked Daddy if her angel Mommy had fed her like that when she was a baby and he said no. She wanted to ask him more about her, but Daddy got a real sad look on his face. She couldn't figure out why. He was so happy about her new Mommy and the new baby. It didn't make any sense to her that he would feel sad anymore about her angel Mommy. She would have asked Hal, but he was just as sad as Daddy whenever she tried to talk about her. She didn't want both Daddy and Hal to be sad.

She missed Brownie camp a lot. She especially missed her counselor Rachel. She knew that if she could talk to Rachel about baby sisters then she would help her to understand it. The week after Maisie was born, Rachel had talked to her about lots of things. She told her not to worry because she had to live with Grammy for a few days because when her little sisters were born, her Mommy had stayed in the hospital. And then her Grandmother came to stay with the kids at home to help out.

At least she could go down and visit Mommy and Maisie. And by the end of the week, Mommy and Maisie came up the street to visit them. That whole week had been very strange. Mommy's cousins Sylvia and Liam, and even another one named John, came to visit out of nowhere. And it was a secret that cousin Liam had come.

Emmeline and Sylvia were very stern when they told her that she could _not _mention him to Mommy and Daddy. But then one day when she came home from camp, he was gone. He had seen Mommy and left to go home. Then, Emmeline and Sylvia left and her brother Hal came home.

When Hal came home, she and Butch could finally go home too. That night, after Nana and Papa drove him back from his program, all six of them went home together. She got to sleep in her own bedroom again and so did Hal and Butch. Maisie got to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's room in her new cradle.

That night, when Mommy tucked her into bed, she sat and talked for a little while like she did back in the old days. But just as Prudence thought that things were finally returning back to normal, they heard Maisie cry and Mommy went to go to her. Daddy came in right away to sit on her bed, but it wasn't the same.

"Daddy, does Mommy love Maisie more than she loves me?" she asked.

Daddy looked surprised by her question.

"Why of course not," he said surprised. "What makes you ask a question like that?"

"Well," she replied. "It seems like Mommy loves Maisie more than _any _of us right now. She never leaves her and whenever she cries, she picks her up and feeds her. And she hugs her all the time and smiles at her."

Daddy looked for a minute as if he was thinking real hard.

"Prudence," he finally said. "When babies are very tiny, their mothers always spend all their time with them taking care of them. As Maisie gets bigger, then Mommy won't need to spend so much time with her. But she loves all of us very much."

Prudence was not convinced, but she let Daddy kiss her goodnight and turn off the light. The next morning they all went to church together. Everyone wanted to see the baby. It was nice because lots of the ladies asked her how it felt to be a big sister. They talked to her about what a big girl she was becoming and how much help she would be to her Mommy, and that made her feel very important.

She was very happy when they went home and had lunch. But after lunch, Grammy and Trelawney came to visit with Trelawney's little dog Elspeth. Grammy and Grampie had decided that they needed a little holiday after how busy they had been before and after the baby was born. They were going to take Trelawney on a car trip up north to Canada for the next two weeks. Grammy wondered if Elspeth could stay with them.

Trelawney did not look like she wanted a holiday at all. But she didn't say anything. She just looked sad. Mommy handed Maisie to Daddy and put her arms around Trelawney and said, "There. There." Then they both walked out into the backyard to talk privately. They were not gone long, but when they returned, they both looked like they had been crying. Mommy kissed her goodbye and Trelawney left holding Grammy's hand. Elspeth whined a little bit and went out into the backyard. Mommy took Maisie back from Daddy and cuddled her close. Then she said that she was tired and wanted a nap.

Prudence could tell that if she asked Daddy any questions then he would get annoyed with her. It was one of those times when he looked like he didn't know what to do. She wandered upstairs and found her brothers just hanging out in their room.

"Grammy and Grampie took Trelawney and went on a trip to Canada for the next two weeks," she said before they could tell her to scram.

Both of her brothers looked up at her.

"And I'm not tattling because Grammy and Trelawney just came to say goodbye," she added defensively. "It's not a secret you know."

"Okay," said Butch. "What do you want us to do about it?"

"I don't know," she answered with a shrug. "I thought that you might want to know."

"That's going to make Mom feel sad," said Hal, looking up from his book. "Is she all right?"

"I don't know," Prudence admitted. "After she and Trelawney came back from saying goodbye they both looked like they had cried. Mommy took Maisie and said hat she needed a nap."

"What did Dad say?" asked Hal.

"Nothing," she replied. "But he had that look on his face that he gets when he doesn't want us to ask any questions. So I came up here."

Butch had been thinking this whole time.

"This means that Grampie can't go to my Little League play-off game this week," he said. "Grampie's gone to all my games this season."

"Don't worry," said Hal. "Dad and I will go. You can tell him all about it when he gets back."

"Yeah," said Butch. "I guess so. But I wonder why they wanted to take a trip all of the sudden."

"Grammy said they needed a rest because they've been so busy," answered Prudence. "And they wanted to give us a chance to get used to living with the baby. Grammy said that we needed to learn to manage without them coming down all the time."

"I never thought of that," said Hal. "I guess that's why they need a rest. They have been working very hard to help out all summer. They're not as young as they used to be, you know."

Prudence nodded.

"While you were away and Mommy was still pregnant, they helped out a lot," she agreed.

"Well, now that I'm home I can help out more," he said. "Have you two been helping much?"

Butch and Prudence looked at each other guiltily. They really hadn't.

"That's what I thought," said Hal in his superior tone of voice.

"We make our own beds every morning," said Butch.

"We can all do more," said Hal. "Let's go find Dad and set up the chore list again."

As they left the room, Butch grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"That's what you get for opening your big mouth," he hissed. "If you do it again then I'm going to clobber you. Even if you are a girl."

Prudence looked back at him remorsefully. She felt sorry too. They found Daddy sitting at his desk in the study pretending to read something. When Hal told him what they wanted, he got up as if he were relieved that he had something to do. After they went through the chores and assigned them, they all went to the store to go grocery shopping. Daddy got hamburgers and some other things so that he could cook a barbecue dinner. That way Mommy wouldn't have to cook.

At first she thought that it wouldn't matter that Grammy, Grampie, and Trelawney weren't living up the street. But then she realized how much they had helped Mommy and Daddy out. It was funny, but it wasn't really about the housework. Originally she and Butch had been assigned jobs. But then Butch figured put that if they did them too slowly that they could get Daddy or Hal would do them. And since they didn't want to upset Mommy by yelling at them, they would just sigh and do it themselves.

It seemed like whenever they had run into some problem they needed to solve like who was going to drive Butch to baseball practice or if Mommy wanted to talk about a problem, Grammy and Grampie had been there. Daddy also seemed to have a harder time deciding about things. He was even afraid to go to the university in case Mommy might need him.

She thought that with Trelawney gone then she would get more "Mommy time." She did. But it wasn't the same. Maisie was always there, and even when she wasn't, Mommy would go to her as soon as she cried. And she had never known before how much she and Trelawney had played together over the summer and how much fun Trelawney was.

She was so bored that she even went to Buch's big baseball game without being asked. But then Butch's team lost and he was in a really bad mood. It got a little better in the second week when Mommy called up Amy's Mommy to ask if she could play there. Then Mary Jane came back from her vacation and she had someone else to play with.

But the best day was when Topher came over to hang out with Hal and brought his two little sisters with him, Hannah and Miriam. The three of them went upstairs to play in her room. As they went past Mommy's room, the door was opened so Prudence asked if they could come in and see Maisie. Mommy invited them right in. It was Maisie's feeding time and the girls were just as fascinated as Prudence had been.

"Mrs. Everett," asked Hannah. "Is Maisie really getting milk from, you know, _that_?"

"Of course, she is Hannah," answered Mommy. "It's very healthy for her to feed this way."

"And Maisie is a very good baby," said Prudence proudly. "She spends all her time with Mommy and she only cries when she is hungry."

"I don't remember having any babies in our house," said Miriam.

"That's 'cause you're the youngest," said Hannah. "But I don't remember any babies either. I was too little to remember you."

Mommy smiled at them.

"Well, why don't you three run along and play," she suggested. "Before Topher wants to leave."

"Okay," said Prudence and they went off to her room.

Topher and Hal must have had a lot to talk about because they got to play all afternoon. She was sorry when they left, but Topher promised her that Mrs. Tucker would invite her over soon.

"I wish that I could go to school with them," said Prudence wistfully to Hal after they were gone.

"I'm afraid that you're going to have to wait five more years," said Hal.

"I don't get it," replied Prudence. "You get to go to school with Topher and Trelawney gets to go to school with Sarah."

"It's the way the schools work," explained Hal. "You go to the school nearest to where you live. The middle schools and high schools are bigger, so kids go there together who live farther away."

"Oh," said Prudence. "Then why can't we go to their church?"

"Mom likes our church," replied Hal. "Since Dad kind of doesn't care, that's where we go. Since the churches are different you don't just switch from one to another."

"Did Jesus go to a different church?" she asked.

"Jesus was Jewish," answered Hal. "He didn't go to church, he went to a synagogue."

"Are we Jewish?" asked Prudence.

"No, of course not," said Hal. "We're Christian."

"But I thought that we were like Jesus," said Prudence, once again confused.

"Well, we're Christians because of Jesus," said Hal. "Jesus died on the cross and after he went back to heaven then the apostles who followed him, like St. Peter, taught people to be Christians. Don't you pay any attention in Sunday School?"

"Of course I do," she said. "But nobody ever said that Jesus was Jewish before. I just thought that Noah and Moses were Jewish."

Hal looked like he was starting to get annoyed. He didn't realize how hard all of these things were to understand. The Sunday school teacher told them lots of nice stories and sometimes Jesus was in them and sometimes he wasn't. Sometimes Jesus even told the stories. Then she thought of something.

"Don't you remember when Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me?'" she asked. "Well I'm a little child and how am I supposed to come to him if I don't understand all this stuff?"

"Why don't you ask Dad about it?" asked Hal.

"Oh, I tried that once," she assured him. "But he told me to go to Grammy. He said that she knew way more than him about the Bible. But Grammy's not home and I want to know."

"Then go ask Mom and quit bugging me!"

Prudence looked at him as he walked away. She went up stairs and found Mommy knitting in her bedroom while Maisie was sleeping. She tiptoed in very quietly and asked Mommy if she could talk to her. Mommy looked over at the cradle and then walked out with her. They went into the nursery and Mommy sat in the rocking chair and Prudence pulled another chair over.

Then she asked Mommy all of her questions about Jesus being Jewish and going to church. Mommy looked happy that she was asking all her questions. She was able to answer every single one. Prudence was just happy because she got Mommy's whole attention for once. That was until Maisie cried. Then Mommy went to get her. When she came back, Maisie started nursing and stopped crying.

They still talked about Jesus, but it wasn't the same. Even though Maisie wasn't the least tiny bit interested in the conversation, Prudence still felt like she no longer had Mommy to herself. She knew that she was being jealous, but she couldn't help herself. She missed the old days when she didn't have to share her Mommy. She knew that back in those days, she wasn't her Mommy. She was her Nanny.

So then she was even more confused. First she had thought that she wanted a baby sister, but now that she had one she didn't. Then she thought that she wanted Nanny to be her Mommy, but now she realized that even that wasn't so great. But if Nanny hadn't become her Mommy, then she would have gone away forever to take care of Trelawney and maybe even marry Mr. Feathers.

She also remembered that when she was little, she had wanted to grow up to be a big kid like Hal and Butch. But things had been easier when she was a little kid. Now there were too many confusing things to think about. She wished that Trelawney would come home. She was real good at explaining things like this. Everybody said that she was crazy when she explained things except Prudence. She thought that Trelawney's explanations always made perfect sense.

_To be continued . . ._


	2. Chapter 2

**The Discontented Brother**

By the end of summer vacation, Butch was ready for it to be over. It had started out great. He had played on his travel baseball team and turned out to be the star relief pitcher. They played some real exciting away games including one where they had an adventure on the way home. Grampie's car ran off the road in a rainstorm and he got to climb back up to the road in a safety harness. It was really cool.

But then they made it all way to the semi-finals in the playoffs, but they just couldn't win that last game. Everything fell apart in the early innings and he didn't even get to play. There was nothing to save at the end of the game. The worst part was that Grampie wasn't there and so he had to listen to Dad and Hal explain about how it wasn't so bad that they had lost.

The problem was that they were both so scientific that they had to analyze everything from the mistakes they made in the game to how losing builds character. Butch didn't really want any character. He wanted a win. And he didn't care that they hadn't made the playoffs last year. This year was totally different. After a while they were so interested in talking to each other that they were no longer talking to him. When they got home, they went into the living room to keep yacking and he went up to his room.

It really stunk that Grampie had to pick the last two weeks of summer to take Grammy and Trelawney away on a vacation. If Grampie had been there, he wouldn't have told him all about how good it was that they lost. He would have understood how bad it was and taken him for ice cream. Grampie might be an engineer, but he thought about more things than science.

Whenever Butch talked to Hal or Dad they always made him feel stupid, or like he was a kid. But Grampie was different. He could have man-to-man talks with Grampie and feel like he understood what he was talking about. He really listened. He didn't try to make Butch feel dumb or just talk to him about how he should be. It seemed like since Hal had gotten back from his science program he had turned into Saint Hal or something.

Hal was the smart one. He was the one who was so scientific. And of course Dad thought that if Butch just tried harder in school then he could be just as smart as Hal. And didn't he want to be just like his brother? No. Butch wanted to be like Butch. It wasn't hard for Hal to be good in science because he liked science. He worked on it when he didn't have to because he thought that it was fun.

Hal really stunk at baseball, but that was because he didn't care about it. But Dad never said that if he worked harder then Hal could be good at baseball. He never asked Hal if he wanted to be like Butch. It was kind of like being good at baseball wasn't as important as being good at science. He guessed that that was what happened when you had a scientist for a father.

And Mom had gotten totally weird now that Maisie was born. She was always with Maisie. And if Maisie wasn't taking a nap, then she was eating and then pooping. In one end and out the other as Mom's Cousin Liam said. Now, Cousin Liam was a really cool guy. He knew what it was like to have annoying little sisters. He had been stuck with one annoying big sister plus his two annoying little sisters for almost his whole life. But he had warned him that baby brothers were just as annoying in the beginning as baby sisters. All they did was sleep and eat and poop.

Butch was sorry that he had left so soon. They had some great times together swapping stories about annoying sisters. When he told him all about Prudence and how she spied and tattled and started fights with her big mouth, he told him that Emmeline was like that when they were kids. But he said that Sylvia was even worse. Sylvia was always so _good. _Everyone always said that Sylvia was a perfect little girl. And Christabel was their Mom's favorite.

But he got his revenge by playing tricks on them. He hid things that they needed. He left things in their drawers like frogs to scare them. But after a while, he stopped playing tricks on Emmeline because she was real good at getting revenge. Sylvia was more fun because he could make her cry. Christabel was a pain because she went running to their mother. Butch thought that Cousin Liam was the coolest guy that he ever met. Still, he also knew that if he tried to play any tricks like Cousin Liam that he would get in BIG trouble. Prudence was the biggest tattletale that ever lived.

But he also felt weird about his Mom. She had always been the one who understood him and tried to get Dad to lay off about his grades and being like Hal. But these days it felt as though she had just forgotten about him. It was almost like she wasn't his Mom anymore. She was "Maisie's Mum."

Hal was pretty weird too. He really LIKED having a baby sister. Sometimes when Mom needed to do something in the kitchen and Dad wasn't around. Hal would hold Maisie for her. Maisie would look at him as if he were, Butch didn't know, GOD or something. She couldn't smile. She could just stare at you. But when she stared at Hal it was kind of creepy. She looked at him like she knew it was Hal.

It was kind of funny, because after driving them crazy all these years about wanting a baby sister, now that she had one, Prudence wasn't happy. She was jealous because Maisie got most of Mom's attention. And she couldn't even hold her. Whenever she tried, the baby started crying. But Butch would cry too if he was a little baby and Prudence started wiggling all over the place when she held him.

Yeah, it was pretty rich. It was too much. He heard someone say that there was an old saying about being careful what you wish for. You just might get it. Well, this was the perfect example. There were some times when he felt that way too. After all, last summer they had all been wishing that Dad would buy Mom an engagement ring and marry her already. Hal even told him that they would lock him in a jewelry store if he didn't. But now he wasn't so sure.

When Mom was Nanny, she always had time for him. She always made him feel special and she always stood up for him. Now he knew that she loved him, but they never went out on special trips anymore for ice cream or anything. When he was feeling down, she didn't really notice anymore. He knew that if he came to her all upset that she would hug him and pat him on the back and say, "There. There." But he was too big for that. He wanted to talk to her.

Hal seemed to be able to talk to her about stuff, but that was because he didn't mind sitting with her when she was nursing Maisie. Butch couldn't even stay in the same room with them. He told everybody that he thought it was gross, but he was really embarrassed. It wasn't like he hadn't seen women's chests before. Martin Pulski had swiped one his Dad's _Playboy_ magazines once and brought it into school to show all the guys.

They had looked at it during recess until their teacher, Mrs. Oliver, took it away from them. She called up Martin's Dad because she said that his son was corrupting the fourth grade boys with pictures of naked ladies. Martin said that his Dad just laughed at her and told her that, "boys will be boys." He even told her that she should be grateful to him for keeping the other boys out of trouble during recess. Butch thought it was funny but Mrs. Oliver didn't. She kept Martin after school for a whole week.

But this wasn't some sexy lady in a magazine. This was his _Mom_. It's not that he didn't think that she was pretty. He thought that she was the prettiest lady that he knew. He just was real uncomfortable about the idea that she could be SEXY. He knew that she and Dad, well, did THAT. After all, if they hadn't then Maisie wouldn't be there. But still, he couldn't watch Maisie nurse. Especially when she switched sides and they were uncovered.

Maybe he could have talked about it with Grampie, but not with Dad. That was too hard. After all, Mom and Dad had . . . you know. Hal told him to grow up, but he didn't want to grow up. Well, he did want to grow up, but not where girls were concerned. And his Mom, well, she was his Mom. He knew she was a girl, but he didn't want to think of her that way, as if she was that kind of girl.

Finally, Mom called up Mrs. Lenihan and he got to go over and visit his friend Tim for a while. He talked to Tim about it and Tim said that he was glad that he didn't have any sisters. He also said that he was glad because his Mom wouldn't have any more babies. Tim's parents were divorced and his Mom swore that she was never going to marry again.

"Why is that?" asked Butch.

"Because she still loves my Dad," Tim replied with a shrug. "Me and Mike think that she's crazy. He said that Dad treated her real bad and now he's treating us bad."

"Is he?" asked Butch, who couldn't imagine his own Dad ever divorcing his Mom and treating them all badly.

"Well," said Tim. "Right now he's treating Mike _really bad. _I mean if Mike hadn't gotten his scholarship, then he couldn't have gone to New York for college. My Dad makes piles of money, but he's a real cheapskate."

"Huh?" asked Butch. "But just because he doesn't give you lots of money doesn't mean that he doesn't love you."

"Maybe," said Tim. "But he picks fights with my Mom. He refused to go to any of Mike's plays or even his graduation. He's supposed to pick me up so that I can spend every other weekend at his apartment, but he doesn't want me to spend the night. I'm lucky if I get to see him for a couple of hours a week. Most of the time I'm sorry that I did."

"Oh," said Butch. "Why doesn't he want you to come over?"

"He has his new girlfriend living with him," said Tim. "My Mom told him that I wasn't allowed to spend the night if he and she were, you know, sleeping in the bedroom together, because they're not married and all. So it was me or her. And he picked _her._ And whenever he picks me up then _she's _always with him. She treats me like a baby and tells Dad how cute I am. It makes me want to puke."

"Oh," said Butch. "She sounds like a real bimbo. But if it was me, I wouldn't want to sleep there either with them, you know, doing _it _in the next room."

"Yeah," said Tim. "That's what I told my Dad when he asked if my Mom was forcing me not to go. I told him that it was embarrassing."

"What did he say?" asked Butch curiously.

"He said that my Mom was raising me to be a little 'prude,' whatever that is," he replied. "But it's just to hard to think about my Dad doing _that _with a lady other than my Mom. I mean, what happens if _I _get stuck with a little brother or sister. That would be totally embarrassing, you know it would be a half-sister or brother."

"Well," said Butch slowly. "Maisie is my half-sister."

"Yeah, but that's totally different," explained Tim. "Your Dad met your Mom after, you know, you lost your first Mom. And he really, really loves her. My Mom said that he treats her like a queen. And besides, Maisie was born long enough after the wedding that nobody would think that they were doing _that _before they got married."

"People really didn't think that," said Butch uncertainly. "Did they?"

"Well, I think that some people did," he answered. "I heard my Mom and Mike talking about it once. He was real upset because he heard some stuff that people were saying about Trelawney's sister. Mom told him to ignore it because there would always be people who had their minds in the gutter."

"Oh."

"By the way," said Tim. "Mike is real upset because he has to leave for New York before Trelawney gets back from her vacation. He wanted to say goodbye to her. He's been acting real weird since the night of that crazy storm, remember?"

"Yeah," said Butch. "Your Mom was totally nuts because the storm was so bad and she didn't know where he was. Where was he?"

"They never told me," said Tim. "But when he finally came home, they were both real upset. Remember? After you went back to your grandparents, he went to see Pastor Jason. I know that he wanted to talk to Trelawney, but she left before he could."

"But you never did find out where he went that night?"

"No," Tim shook his head. "Only that he went somewhere with Topher."

Butch was glad when they changed the subject. He knew that whatever was going on with Mike and his Dad was none of his business. He knew that he wasn't supposed to talk about his family business with anyone else, but he felt like Tim wasn't just anyone. He figured that Tim kind of felt the same way about him.

He really didn't think that Tim told lots of people about his Dad and his new girlfriend. He thought that it was really weird that they would just live together like they were married, but they weren't. When Grampie came home, he knew that he could ask him about it.

He was afraid to talk to his own Dad or Mom about it. He didn't want _them _to think that he thought that they had been acting like that before they got married. He didn't understand how anyone could think that. But Mrs. Oliver probably thought it, even though she didn't say it. And Martin's Dad had made jokes about it (although he did take them back).

But at least Grampie would be home soon. They would have a man-to-man talk and he would explain everything to him.

**Mother and Son Time**

Young Hal Everett awoke at the sound of his infant sister crying. Despite the fact that it was five am and still dark out, he smiled. It was as if since he had returned home from his summer science program two weeks ago, she had acted as his alarm clock. Maisie did not have a very loud cry, but he could still hear it through his closed door.

His ten-year-old brother Butch was out cold, sprawled on top of the covers. Quietly he got up and went across the hallway to his parents' bedroom. Like Butch, his Dad was oblivious. Just like all the other mornings, his Mom was sitting in her rocking chair nursing the baby. She had a soft smile on her face and as she looked down at the little girl she seemed to glow.

She looked up as he entered and nodded, as she always did. He padded in and sat on the floor cross-legged beside the chair. The position was a little awkward because he was so tall and his legs were long, but from that perspective he could look up and see his sister eagerly drinking. Initially, he had felt shy when his Mom opened her blouse for the baby. But then he realized that there was nothing embarrassing about it. To quote her, "That's what 'they' were for."

Butch thought that the whole idea was gross and refused to stay in the same room with them. Prudence had at first been curious and then jealous. That didn't really surprise him. He had been eight when Prudence was born and Butch, age four, had been very jealous. Not only was he no longer the baby, Prudence was a _girl _and everyone made a huge fuss over her for that reason. He tried to explain that to Prudence, but she wasn't interested. It had worried him until Mom told him that sooner or later she would come around and actually _like _being the big sister.

He had discovered that he liked this early morning time with Mom and Maisie. Sometimes, when Mom was finished nursing, she would let him hold her. Since the first time that she had put his little sister in his arms, he had fallen in love with her. When she looked at him it felt like she just _knew _that he was her big brother and that he would always take care of her. She never cried when he held her. He still couldn't believe how tiny her little hands and fingernails were, especially in comparison with his own huge hands.

When they sat together, he and Mom would talk about things that he felt like he couldn't discuss with anyone else. When they were all together as a family, he told them all about the classes in his summer program and all the neat stuff that he had learned. But he had also learned a little about girls that summer. For some reason he thought that it was easier to talk to Mom than Dad. Maybe it was because Mom was a girl too.

Most of the students in the program were guys, but there were some girls too. One of the girls, Whitney, was real smart and very serious about science. Whitney's dream was to be the first female astronaut to go into space. She figured that by the time she finished college and graduate school, the space program would be going to Mars. Unfortunately for her, she was also very pretty. Some of the other guys used it as an excuse to say that she was an airhead, but Hal just thought that it was because they were jealous. It didn't help their egos that she was also taller than most of them.

However, she was still a couple of inches shorter than Hal. She had long, dark-brown hair that hung down her back and swung back and forth when she walked. Because it was straight, she didn't have to tie it back or braid it like Trelawney to keep it from tangling. She also had large brown eyes and a great smile. She was an athlete, unlike most of the science students. Because she was so tall, she played volleyball, basketball, and was a softball pitcher.

In the chemistry class that they were taking, she was assigned to be his lab partner. Some of the other guys teased him because he had a girl for a lab partner, but Hal liked working with her. She took very careful notes and unlike him, she had really neat handwriting. They liked working together because they both liked to question and debate things and if they didn't know something, rather than ask the teacher, they would go the university library and look it up.

Hal told Mom all about Whitney and she said that she hoped to meet her someday. In Mom's little village back in England, she hadn't studied science. She thought that it was more of a guy thing. Hal had enjoyed his friendship with Whitney a lot. In fact, they spent so much time together that after a while they would hold hands if they went out for a walk to talk about things.

But Whitney was special because she was the first girl that he ever kissed. She was different from the girls at school, because she didn't try to flirt with him or get too close to him. Sometimes the girls there would lean on him or sit down right next to him so that there was no space in between them. He didn't like that. It wasn't that he didn't think that they were pretty or nice. It's just that he never knew what to say to them. And when they were right there practically on top of him, it didn't make it any easier.

But he never had trouble thinking of things to say to Whitney. They had so much in common that she never had to flirt with him to get his attention. She said things that he wanted to listen to and she really listened to what he had to say. Most of the girls at school would just look at him while he talked about science and pretend they were interested. He asked Mom about it once.

"Hal," she explained. "Some girls at your age don't know what to say to you any more than you know what to say to them. They want your attention because you're a very good-looking young man (Hal blushed at that) and you're a nice person. You should be flattered, but if you're not interested, you shouldn't pretend that you are. That's leading them on and in the long run you will hurt their feelings more."

"So what should I do?" he had asked.

"Just be nice and polite to them," she said. "If you don't have anything to talk about, they'll figure it out and give up. Hopefully they will try to find a guy who has more in common with them."

Hal had nodded and thought about it. And he hoped that they would find a guy who would respect them. He knew that some of the guys took advantage of the girls who flirted with them, or at least they bragged that they did. He thought that all the bragging that some of them did was very disrespectful. Whatever you did with a girl was between the two of you. And if you didn't do anything, it was very bad to make up stories. You could really ruin a girl's reputation that way.

It was the night before they left that Hal had kissed Whitney. It was a real kiss, not just a little peck on the cheek. But he didn't tell anyone about it, except Mom. He knew that he could trust her not to tell anyone else. When he told her, she had smiled and said that she was very proud of him for treating Whitney like a lady, and that made him feel very good inside.

They had promised to write to each other when they got home. Hal must have sat down hundred times to write a letter, but he couldn't get passed "Dear Whitney." Two days ago, a letter had come from her. Hal was glad that it didn't wreak of perfume the way that Miss Finley's had when she wrote to Dad a few years ago. It looked and smelled like a normal letter on the outside.

Inside she had written about all the stuff that she was doing at home and was planning to do when school started. He told Mom about the letter yesterday morning and they talked about it. Later that afternoon, he sat down to write and he discovered that it was a lot easier than he thought it would be. Mom had lots of experience writing letters to her family because she had traveled so much.

She had told him to just write the way that he would talk to her if she were sitting there. When he was done he mailed it right away before he could lose his nerve. Then he took her letter and put it in his chemistry book from the program so that no one (Butch) would find it. Butch probably wouldn't open a chemistry book (voluntarily), even if you paid him a million dollars.

But this morning he didn't want to talk about Whitney or the science program. He was worried about Trelawney. The day that he returned from the program, he, Butch, and Prudence had come back home. Once Mom had had the baby at home, they had decided that they needed to give her a chance to rest. So Butch and Prudence had stayed with Grammy and Grampie.

Hal realized that this was a very good idea. When they all came home, Mom had a lot more energy than she did when she was pregnant. With him and Dad to help, she had managed very well for the past two weeks. But for those two weeks, Trelawney hadn't been there. Grammy and Grampie had decided to take her on a vacation to Vancouver, up north in Canada.

So for the past two weeks they had been driving up and down the coast. Grammy said that they wanted to show her more of the US, but he thought that Trelawney missed Mom a lot. He didn't think that she was the least bit interested in seeing America if she couldn't do it with Mom.

"So Mom," he began. "Grammy, Grampie, and Trelawney are coming home later today."

"Yes, they are," she replied. "They need a day to get ready because Trelawney starts in her new school on Tuesday."

"Mom," he said tentatively. "Maybe this is none of my business, but why did they take her away all of the sudden? I mean it's not like the trip was planned. And Trelawney was crying when she said goodbye to you and Maisie. Prudence said so and I know that she wasn't tattling."

Mom was silent. Hal could see that she was thinking. He knew that she had been really sad when they took her away too.

"Well, Hal," she finally said. "Grammy and Grampie thought that it would be a good idea for the six of us to get used to living together as a family without them right up the street to keep jumping in to help smooth things over. Your Nana had wanted to have Prudence visit for a week, but we decided that it was better if she got used to living here with the baby before school started. It's a very big adjustment for her. In fact, I think that it's even bigger than it is for you and Butch."

Hal thought about it.

"Yeah," he said. "But doesn't Trelawney get to get used to having the baby around too? And I know that she really likes to spend time with you."

Mom looked off into space and sighed.

"It's one of those things that's difficult to say," she replied. "But I think that it has been good for us to establish some routines. I really do appreciate all the help that you've given us. I'm just worried about how much time you'll have to do that and your schoolwork when school starts up again."

Hal shrugged.

"Butch and Prudence are old enough to do more," he commented. "I'm afraid that sometimes Dad and I do stuff because it's easier than trying to teach them. But they need to learn to pick up more slack."

Mom smiled.

"As usual, Hal," she said. "I can always count on you to come up with thoughtful solutions. But you have to realize that you will have to be more patient with them, especially with Prudence."

"I know," he said smiling. "But I'm more patient than Dad. She knows it and that's why she works so slowly or does things wrong."

"I believe that you're right about that," she answered nodding. "Well, that's just one more thing that we'll have to keep working on. Would you like to hold Maisie for a while?"

"Sure," he said and reached out his arms for her. As usual, she looked back at Mom for a minute and then up at him. Finally, she snuggled closer. She looked very contented.

"Sometimes I think that she would smile at me if she could," he said.

"Well, give her time," answered Mom. "Before you know it she'll be smiling at you."

Hal grinned back at her. He wondered what the guys in school would say if they knew that he liked to hold his baby sister. They would probably think that he was weird. But he didn't care. If he told them about kissing Whitney, they would probably think that he was cool. But he didn't feel right about telling them. In fact, he would rather tell them about holding the baby. In this case, he would rather be weird than cool.

When he looked up from Maisie, he noticed that Mom was smiling at him in approval. It was as if she had read his mind or something. That used to bother him, but not anymore. After all, she had been his Mom for almost a year already. She knew him pretty well by now.

_To be continued . . ._


	3. Chapter 3

**Family Bonds**

For two long weeks, Phoebe had found herself separated from Trelawney. They had not been apart for so long since January, when she and Hal had gone on their honeymoon for three weeks to Hawaii. This was not the same at all. At that time it was she who was going away for a long, lovely holiday with her husband. In addition to basking in the warm, lazy days, she had basked in his love. Despite the fact that her days revolved around her beautiful, new daughter, she still missed her sister.

It had been painful for them to say goodbye. They both had so looked forward to the birth of Maisie and getting to know her, that the days felt empty without her. She knew that Maisie felt it as well and clung to her. No amount of love that Hal and the children could shower on them could make up for it. Hal senior did his best to cheer her up and keep her company. Hal junior, in his own gentle way, spent time with her each morning talking of his life and dreams. It was a sweet time.

Butch and Prudence were another story. Each of them did not know how to react to the change in the dynamic of the family. Butch withdrew. His mood did not improve after his team lost their playoff game. And he missed his grandfather. She tried to break down the wall between them, but hard as she tried, he tried harder to resist her efforts. Finally she gave up. Whatever was going on in his ten-year-old mind, he was not going to let her see it.

Prudence was confused about everything. Phoebe knew that she loved her little sister but had not realized how helpless infants were. She couldn't play with Maisie and the baby was too little for her to help with. She resented the fact that Maisie was almost always with them when they spent time together. Even when she wasn't, their time came to an end when Maisie needed her.

Her son Hal was so different. He never resented the baby's presence. In fact he enjoyed holding her whenever he could. Phoebe's sense was that of all the children, Maisie felt safest with him. Hal was clearly growing to adore her. She thought that it was a pity that he couldn't show the same affection for Prudence. But she was still his annoying little sister.

In the beginning, her husband Hal seemed to be "at sea" without the guidance of his parents. Pastor Jason was right that it was good for Hal to have to negotiate his responsibilities without relying on them to smooth things over. He didn't have the university to escape to either. However by the end of the first week, things began to fall into place. She made sure that Prudence had girls her own age to play with and Butch was able to spend a couple of days with his friend Tim. The "guy time" really helped him.

By the end of the two weeks, she was very glad to see that Pastor Jason was right. While there would still be bumps along the way, they seemed to be over the major hurdles. And she knew that once school began and all of them were busy doing their own activities that things would be even better. However the oddest thing happened during the second week. Hal's friend Topher came over to see her.

Hal had taken out the other three children for the day. When she realized that someone was at the door, she wondered why Topher was there.

"Hal's not home, Topher," she said as she opened the door and he was about to ring the bell.

For a minute the young man looked disconcerted, but he quickly recovered himself.

"Hi, Mrs. Everett," he said politely. "I knew that the Professor was taking the kids out for the day. I came over because I wanted to speak with you alone."

"Please come in," she said surprised. Then she realized that this was about Trelawney.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" she asked as they made their way into the living room.

"No, I'm good," he replied. "But thank you."

"So what can I do for you, Topher?" she asked.

Topher looked at her as if his confidence was failing him. Whatever he wanted to say to her, he seemed to be having trouble putting his thoughts into words. Then she remembered that he had been outside the night that Maisie was born and had watched as the unicorn bled to death. It must have been an awful sight for the sensitive young man. She decided to give him some help getting started.

"Is this about Cholmondeley?" she asked softly.

He nodded.

"I'm sorry that you had to witness such a violent scene," she said quietly. "It must have been very shocking. I was disturbed and I only heard about it later."

He swallowed and finally spoke.

"Mrs. Everett, was he really your betrothed from birth?" he finally asked.

Now it was Phoebe's turn to nod in response. She looked away.

"I'm afraid that I was the cause of a great deal of pain and trouble for a lot of people," she answered.

"No you weren't, the cause of the trouble that is," he replied immediately. "I mean, your cousin Liam told Mike and me the whole thing. You know, what he did to your sister and all. We tried to bring him around, but he wouldn't listen. I know that it sounds weird, but when we went out there we all hated him so much. But then, when we saw him, I kind of felt sorry for him. He was filled with more hate than the three of us put together. And I'll tell you. That was a lot of hate."

"I know," she said. "It's odd. I could never find it in my heart to really hate him. I was angry with him and he frightened me. Trelawney hated him when he returned to marry me, but that was because of what . . . happened. But in the end she didn't hate him. He just frightened her badly."

"Trelawney is a beautiful person," answered Topher sincerely. "She's the most beautiful person that I know. She's so kind and good. I've never met anyone like her before."

"There are very few people who have," she said. "Is this what you came to tell me?"

"No," he said. "I have to admit that since that night I've been wondering. Why did you get betrothed at birth? I mean if you hadn't, then maybe it all could have been avoided."

"Well, Topher," she replied. "To answer your first question, I was betrothed at birth as a means of building a family alliance with Cholmondeley's family. In my village, marriages are often contracted for that reason. It's all rather old-fashioned you see. It's a place where the young man generally doesn't ask the young lady to marry him until he has spoken to her father. But most marriages are arranged by the parents."

"Oh," he said. "Did the Professor ask . . . someone in your family if he could marry you?"

"No," she said, "But ours was a very different kind of circumstance. It was complicated by a number of things that you couldn't understand. Professor Everett doesn't fully understand them himself."

"Was Trelawney betrothed at birth?" he asked.

"No," she said slowly. "Not all children are betrothed at such a very young age. I was different because I was the oldest child of the head of the extended family. Why do you ask?"

Topher looked very uncomfortable. Phoebe's heart sank. The poor boy was potentially going to be very hurt. She began to search her mind for ways of letting him down easily. She continued gently.

"Once Trelawney reached a certain age, my parents had no idea of betrothing her to anyone," she continued. "Trelawney is indeed a very special child. As you said she is beautiful, kind, and good. But those such as her are not betrothed. Nor do they marry unless it is a very carefully chosen young man from within the village. One of the reasons that the family thought to take her away from me was that they feared that she could not be properly protected here in the larger world."

"So then you believe that she is too weak to live on her own too?" he asked

"Yes, I do," she replied seriously. "As did my parents. My mother raised us very carefully. I have always known that once they were gone, Trelawney would come to me. None of us had thought that it would be so . . . soon, but we cannot challenge the mind of God and the ways of fate and destiny."

"Then why did she go to live with the Professor's parents?" he asked.

"The reasons are a bit complicated," she said. "When I became pregnant things in the house were quite overwhelming. But Trelawney and I live so close that it doesn't matter as much as you might think. You see Americans don't really understand our little English villages and how close the families are there. From the perspective of our culture it doesn't matter if we reside in the same house. We are still very, very close."

"Oh, I see."

"Topher," she finally said. "I realize that you have something on your mind that you have not yet figured out how to say. The baby will be waking up soon and she will be hungry. Why don't you just tell me up front?"

"Mrs. Everett, if I wanted to become betrothed to Trelawney, how would I do it?" he asked bluntly.

"Well, that's up front enough," she commented wryly. "To answer your question very simply, you can't."

"Why not?" he asked.

"For one thing, at your age your father would have to arrange for the betrothal contract. You would not be old enough for another four or five years at least," she stated simply. "For another, you are not of our people, meaning not "of the village." Our people do not contract to marry outsiders."

"But you . . ." he began.

"Never contracted to marry Professor Everett," she interrupted. "I made my choice when I was of an age that I could. But we cannot go back and live in the village. Even my children can't. I am no longer a Figalilly. Now I am an Everett."

"Would the same be true of Trelawney?" he asked. "Could she make her own choice someday?"

"No, it wouldn't," she said. "Unless she changes radically in the next ten years or so, she would never be judged to have the competence to make that decision. Her Uncle David, who is Liam's father, would have to approve."

"Has anyone told her that?" he asked.

"No one has to," she said simply. "She knows. She is a sweet and loving and gentle girl, but she will always be a girl."

"That's what Pastor Jason said," he replied.

"You discussed this with him?" she asked in surprise.

"Yes," he admitted. "And he told me to forget about it."

"He gave you good advice," she said firmly. "And now so have I. I will ask you please not to mention this to Trelawney or even think of it again. It would confuse her and you could unintentionally hurt her very much."

"I would never hurt her," he protested.

"Good," she replied a bit coldly. "Then you will let this drop and stay away from her until you are prepared to accept her as she is. Think of your sister Sarah, who is a year older than Trelawney. Would you want a young man of seventeen 'courting' her, so to speak?"

"No," he said reluctantly.

"Well, good," she said "Now the baby will wake up any minute. I like you very much Topher and I do not want to see you hurt either. In a few years you will realize that Pastor Jason and I were right. You will meet a girl your own age and fall in love. Then you will realize that a match between you and my sister would have been most unsuitable."

Because she got up and walked to the door he had no choice. After she closed the door behind him, she heard Maisie crying. As she walked up the stairs, she now understood why Pastor Jason had wanted Catherine and Rob to take Trelawney out of town. God forbid that she should find out about this. It would create more problems than any of them could imagine.

Trelawney would no doubt view his attention and intentions in the most dramatic way possible. She would see adult resistance as a replaying of Shakespeare's _Romeo and Juliet_. Who knew what would happen then? Topher had no idea of the depth of passion that he might unleash, not to mention the potential tragedy if Trelawney got the romantic notion into her head that she _was _Juliet.

She made a decision that she would not tell anyone of this conversation. She was fairly certain that Topher wouldn't. If he tried to tell anyone from outside her world, they would think that he was crazy. His parents would certainly be very upset. Any of her family members would tell him the same thing that she did. In many ways it was indeed a great pity. Topher was a fine young man and someday he would make some lucky girl an excellent husband. Sadly, her sister would not be that girl.

**Family Road Trip**

Catherine Everett was very glad that they were returning home today. Trelawney had been almost morose for most of the two-week car trip up the coast. It wasn't so bad when they stopped somewhere and there were things to do. But as they drove, she huddled in a corner of the back seat with her doll and stared out the window. It was impossible to engage her in conversation. Unless you counted the conversations that she had with the doll.

She herself was sorry that she had not been there for the last two weeks to watch Maisie grow. Each time they called, Phoebe had told them that she was thriving. She was sorry to have to miss it, but Pastor Jason insisted that they needed to take Trelawney away until school started. He thought that it would be easier or Hal and Phoebe and the four children to bond if they weren't right up the street. He had also thought that it would help with Prudence because it would be one less person for her to compete with for Phoebe's attention.

Catherine, however, suspected that there was more to it than that. As they drove for hours on end, it was difficult to sustain continuous conversation with Rob and she found herself mulling things over. Originally, she had thought that Pastor Jason wanted Trelawney to get away from the place where the unicorn had met his ultimate defeat. But now, she decided that it was something else. When they got home, she decided that she would go back to him and try to get a better answer.

At least for the last two days, Trelawney had opened up more. She began to talk about her new school and the classes that she would be taking. After the debacles last year in French and Spanish, they decided to put her in Latin. She had had a smattering back in the village, but didn't remember much. Rather than putting her in a seventh grade Latin class, which had a slower pace and younger kids, they had decided to put her in the ninth grade class, which had a faster pace and older girls.

Because they were entering together, she, Francine, and Sarah would have the same schedule and be in all classes together except homeroom, which was alphabetical. In fact, Francine would sit behind Trelawney there and in all the classes because "Fowler" followed "Figalilly." Sarah was unperturbed. She was a very independent girl and a bit less Trelawney's protector than Francine.

In fact, Trelawney had begun to talk so much that she almost seemed to be back to her old self. It might also be because each day brought her closer to her beloved Phoebe and Maisie. Catherine sensed that in addition to seeing the two of them, she also needed to play with her dollhouse. For the entire trip, she had spent most of her time talking to her doll. In fact, she carried the doll with her wherever they went. Fortunately, she looked so young, that most people didn't think twice about it. That was until she started to converse with her.

It was useless to suggest that she not do this around other people. She had replied that she didn't want to hurt Tessa's feelings. Because the girl was so whimsical, Catherine decided that there was no harm in it. She had been through a great deal of trauma in the last few years. It appeared that she would finally be allowed to settle down and to begin to recover from the shock of her parents' sudden deaths, not to mention the violation by the unicorn, and recently his shooting death.

When they had returned to the house to visit Phoebe for one last time, her cousins Johnny and Liam had assured her that Aunt Henrietta would stay away from Trelawney and be out of their lives for good. They both told her that if Auntie did start to act up again, she should inform them immediately and they would go to Grandfather Trelawney. He had the ultimate authority when it came to silencing her. She would certainly not want that to happen.

Because they had left so abruptly, Catherine still had no idea of how the news of Cholmondeley's death had been received back in the village or about how the family was enjoying the news of the baby. The early reports had been sketchy. Catherine was uncomfortable bringing up such matters over the phone and Phoebe offered no information on her own. They had gotten to know so many of the Figalillys over the past year, that it felt like they were going to be having a family reunion of sorts when they came for the christening.

And of course she had no idea of how many of them would be coming. She was hoping that she would get to meet Auntie Anna, who was the mother of all six cousins, and cousin Jimmy. Christabel of course wouldn't come. She wondered how her pregnancy was going. And then there was Liam and the young lady, Mary, who seemed to have captured his heart. Would they be engaged by November?

Yes, she certainly wanted to catch up on the news. She knew that they wouldn't be able to have all of them stay at the house. Bob, with one of his grand gestures, had offered to pay for hotel stays for the "overflow." He had already said that he and Ben were ready to stay at a hotel. Not to be outdone by his brother, Ben planned to pick up the tab for the meals and hire limos to bring them in from the airport.

The Figalillys might outnumber the Everetts, but the Everetts would certainly make their presence known. She was already planning the party. She suspected that Phoebe might object to all the fuss over what was essentially a religious ceremony, but she planned to point out to her that it was really a combination of christening and first family get together. She would avoid mentioning that if there had been a wedding then certainly that would have been an opportunity for the two families to get to know each other.

Now as they sped closer and closer to home, Rob broke into her thoughts.

"I think that we should stop for lunch at the next exit," he said.

"Oh, I'm not hungry, Mr. Everett," piped up Trelawney from the back seat. "We'll get home sooner if we drive straight through."

"Nobody asked for your opinion," he said with a chuckle. "I'm tired and hungry and want to get out and stretch my legs. Since I'm the driver, I get to call the shots on this one."

"I'm sorry," she apologized immediately. "I forgot myself."

"You don't need to feel bad," said Catherine. "There were many times when Rob had to tell the boys the same thing when he was driving and they were trying to boss him around."

"Oh! But I didn't mean . . ." she started.

"You don't have to take us so literally, dear," interrupted Catherine. "We're just teasing."

Oh, yes, of course," she replied, uncertainly.

Catherine looked at Rob, who shrugged. Wherever Trelawney's mind had been, she must have forgotten that they were still on vacation until they pulled into the driveway. As usual, they stopped at a small restaurant. Trelawney walked in with Tessa in her left arm. When the waitress seated them at a table for four, she put the doll in the fourth chair.

"Would you like a booster seat for your dolly?" asked the waitress cheerfully as she gave them their menus.

"Yes, please," replied Trelawney, seriously. "That would be most kind of you."

The waitress gave her a funny looked and then glanced at Catherine. She smiled and nodded. The waitress looked perplexed that a girl as old as Trelawney would want a booster seat for the doll. When she brought it, Trelawney strapped her in.

"Is that better, dear?" she asked Tessa. And in a moment she turned to the waitress.

"Tessa says thank you very kindly," she said smiling at the, by now very confused, woman.

Catherine didn't know what to say. This had happened before when waiters and waitresses had jokingly asked her if the doll wanted anything to eat or drink. Often, Trelawney would talk to her or suddenly turn to the doll and say, "Hush, dear! It's not polite to talk while Mama Kate is speaking."

Catherine decided that she would talk to Phoebe about it. She didn't know if she should be worried or simply accept it as another one of the girl's eccentricities. She remembered that once Emmeline had told her that she had talked to Tessa all the way from London to California. But that had been different. She was younger and had just lost her parents.

She looked at her husband who, as usual, was completely unbothered by the behavior. For some reason he was able to overlook it as a passing phase. It might also be permanent. He saw the doll as a comfort object and had reminded her that Emmeline had also warned them that Trelawney would probably not socially progress beyond a certain point. It was something that they needed to learn to live with.

Catherine supposed that, like Phoebe, she did not want to acknowledge the child's limitations. She was also feeling uncomfortable with the idea that David Figalilly might have been right that this "outside world" was a difficult place and that she might be safer in the village, safer, but surely not happier. She had no doubt that separated from her sister, she would be miserable.

When at last they drove into the driveway, it was difficult to restrain her from immediately running down the street to Phoebe's house. Fortunately, she was willing to wait until Catherine had called to make sure that it was okay with Phoebe. As soon as she heard they were back, Phoebe herself said that she and Maisie would come up to see her. Catherine noted the sound of longing in her voice. She had feeling that she had missed her little sister as much as the girl had missed her.

Trelawney sat on the front steps to wait and when she saw Phoebe coming up the street pushing the baby carriage, rushed to meet her at the edge of the lawn. Elspeth came running up first and barked happily in greeting. From the window, Catherine watched as the two sisters threw their arms around each other. Elspeth sat close by, obviously pleased to be watching over her young ward again. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but they seemed to be laughing and talking a mile a minute. Trelawney then looked down into the carriage and tears came into her eyes as she looked at her niece.

"Spying on them?"

Catherine started at the sound of Rob's voice behind her. She shook her head.

"Not really," she answered defensively. "I can't hear a word they're saying and they're not doing anything unexpected."

"My," he replied mildly. "You're as touchy as Trelawney. Why are _you _so on edge?"

"I can't put my finger on it," she said. "There's some kind of subtext going on that I can't quite figure out. I am not one hundred percent sure that Pastor Jason was being entirely up front with us when he told us to take her away for the last two weeks."

"You'll never learn," he said ruefully. "When it comes to Pastor Jason, he is never completely forthcoming when he tells us to do something with her. And if you ask him, he'll just tell you that either you wouldn't understand or he can't tell you. I've given up trying to figure it out."

"I thought that we were passed all that now," she fretted.

"Once again," he replied. "As long as we have the care of Trelawney there will always be mysteries and underlying issues. She and Phoebe are of a different breed. But come on, they'll be in the door in a second and I, for one, want to see my beautiful granddaughter again and forget about this business for a while."

Catherine nodded and turned as Trelawney opened the door for Phoebe and the baby. After two weeks, Maisie's complexion had turned a beautiful peaches and cream, white and pink. Her hair was so fair that she looked bald as a cue ball, but that only intensified the color of her bright blue eyes. As they walked into the house she seemed to be looking around.

"Look, Mama Kate!" cried Trelawney. "Do you see how Maisie's grown?"

"Yes, I can," she replied, putting her questions out of her mind. "She looks more beautiful that ever!"

"Would you like to hold her?" asked Phoebe.

Catherine took the soft, warm bundle in her arms and cuddled her close. She had that soft "baby scent." The baby looked up at her knowingly as if to say, "You're my Grammy."

"I think that she remembers me!" she said delighted.

"Why of course she does!" Trelawney assured her. "She's quite a smart baby, you know."

Phoebe smiled at her sister lovingly and smoothed back her hair. Trelawney nestled herself in her arms and Phoebe absent-mindedly kissed her head. There was no hiding the fact that she had missed her sister as much as the girl had missed her. Catherine was not really sure of what Pastor Jason had hoped to accomplish by separating them, but it had surely made both of them unhappy.

As if to remind her of their previous conversation, Rob put his hand on her back and looked over her shoulder.

"Well, yes!" he commented cheerfully. "Beauty and brains, just like her Mum."

Phoebe blushed a little and asked if they would mind spending time with Maisie while she and Trelawney went upstairs to her room. Mind? Catherine was back in heaven. It was clear that Phoebe was finally so accustomed to having her daughter present, that she was giving the rest of them more time to get to know her.

"She just finished nursing before you called," she said. "So she won't be looking for me again for a while."

"How are you managing with keeping her close by?" asked Catherine.

"Well," she said. "I've thought perhaps of getting a second crib for down stairs, but I could really use something that I can move around."

Rob's face lighted up.

"I know just the thing that you need!" he replied brightly. "And it will take no time to build with a little help from my handy grandson, Butch. By the way, has he gotten over the disappointment of losing the play-offs?"

"Mostly," she answered. "There are times that I wish that they were still going on. I'll be very happy when school starts and he has something else to think about except all of life's injustices."

"But the question is," put in Trelawney. "Whether Butch views the impending school year as just such a benefit."

"I can assure you that he feels that it is another one of life's injustices," replied Phoebe. "But once he is back in touch with his friends, I am sure that things will improve."

"If you say so," shrugged Trelawney. "Please may we go upstairs? I have missed the girls so much."

Catherine watched as the sisters ascended the stairs, with Elspeth following close behind, and then turned her attention back to the baby. Happily she and Rob went into the living to admire the wonderful, little miracle that had so recently entered their lives. They had some time to make up for.

_To be continued . . ._


	4. Chapter 4

**Maisie's Musings**

It was so odd to look around and see all of the people whose voices she had only heard before. There was Mummy's voice of course, the sweetest in the universe. And now she could not only hear that beloved voice, but also look up into her beautiful blue eyes. So often those precious eyes were filled with tears of joy. They had told her that it would be this way. They had told her that she would bring great happiness to her dear Mummy after she had experienced so much sadness.

Before Maisie had descended to her Mummy, she had lived for a time in the beautiful celestial world with Meg and Owen. They were her Mummy's parents and spent their days looking down upon Mummy and her Auntie Trelawney. They were often sad. Maisie did not know why. She was not permitted that vision. She could not look down from heaven and see the mortal world below. It was not allowed.

She remembered the day that they had come to her world. They were quite bereft and Maisie had been sent to them to give them hope. The angels had told her to go to them and help to bring them the peace of God's love. She was to be their grandchild. That had always been her destiny. If tragedy had not disrupted their fates, then she would have known them on earth. But she would know them now.

Then there came a time when they were especially sad. She did not know why, but Meg's tears never stopped. It was so wrong. How could anyone be so sad in this beautiful and peaceful place? But then one day the tears stopped. They told her that an angel had been sent to guard over her little one. All would be well. The little one would now be safe.

She had lived many lives, known many people, and learned many things. And now she was to make her final journey at the appointed time. She knew that much work awaited her in the world below. She was to be a child of light, just like her Mummy and her Auntie. It was her fate and destiny to bring light to a dark world, peace to a troubled world, and happiness to those who were sad.

When it was time to say goodbye to them, they begged her to love her Mummy and her Auntie Trelawney. They really didn't need to ask her. More than her duty, she was looking forward to both loving them and receiving their love. She only knew how to love. Thus she went to the warm, dark place near her Mummy's heart where she would safely grow from a mere spark of life to a baby, an infant without speech.

It was all rather delightful fun. When she was large enough, she could kick back at those who laid their hands on her mother's belly. Her Daddy would touch her every time he entered the room. It was a wonderful caring touch. It was a touch that said, "I love you," more powerfully than any words. The children touched her also. It was nice. Her sister Prudence always said hello when she came in.

She recalled the first time when Papa Tom had laid a hand on Mummy's stomach after he volunteered to be her grandfather. For some reason, she kicked him very hard. It was the first time that she had ever kicked that hard. She didn't know why, but she knew him. It must have been in another life. But then when Mum walked over to Daddy, she kicked hard again. She didn't want Daddy to feel left out.

She knew that Papa Tom was Helen's father. She saw Helen sometimes in heaven. She was the Mum of her brothers and sister. She loved them very much and watched over them. She was happy when they were happy, and she was sad when they were sad. She was a very sweet lady who had suffered much in her previous life. She had suffered so much that she was permitted to stay in heaven. There would be no more earthly lives for her.

The kind and gentle lady was pleased when Daddy married Mummy. Now her children would have a mother again. She was very sad when her own mother refused to accept Mummy. It drove her apart from the children. But Auntie Trelawney made things right. She knew how to do such things. She could never bear to see anyone unhappy. Helen was very glad that she was with her family. She could make them happy again.

Her new brothers and sister were an interesting lot. Hal was her hero. He loved to sit and talk to Mummy. They talked about so many things. She was quite proud of him. He might not be a child of light, but he almost was. He was kind and thoughtful, and so helpful. He held her securely in his big strong arms. She trusted him. She knew that until he left home that he would always keep her safe.

She felt bad for her big sister Prudence. She was sorry that she had to be a baby for so long before she would be big enough to play with her. But sometimes Prudence scared her. She tried to hold her, but she was always afraid that she would drop her. But she had no words to tell her that. She could only cry and then Prudence would get upset.

Maisie knew her brother Butch the least of all. Poor lad. He was right. Nobody did understand him. It was not his fault that he did not like to watch her nurse. He was just a little boy. And she wished that Daddy would let him be a baseball star. Whenever Mummy and Daddy talked about him, she wanted to say her piece too. But she couldn't. She had no words.

But Auntie Trelawney was the most special. She was a most powerful child of light. She could speak to her through her mind. She told her the loveliest stories. She read books to her and played the piano for her. She knew that her Mummy loved Auntie Trelawney more than anyone. But she would never tell Daddy this. He could not understand. It was not allowed.

Auntie Trelawney was a beautiful, simple soul. She had also lived many lives and was on her final journey home. No one understood Auntie Trelawney, not even her Mummy. It was only Prudence who had an inkling. It would be Maisie's own job to help others understand her. That was a part of her destiny. Auntie Trelawney had been sent first. But she couldn't do it alone. And so she, Maisie, had been sent.

All souls live many lives. Throughout these human lives they try to perfect themselves by living as Jesus did. Jesus was the ultimate perfected soul, so to speak. But He really wasn't a soul. He was God. It was a great mystery to the humans on earth. Even the children of light did not understand. It did not matter. He had been sent to show them the way to live. He was entirely good. No humans could be like Him, but their souls could try. Sadly, not all humans were strong enough to. His life had been very hard.

The weaker humans fell prey to the dark forces. Their souls were not strong enough to resist. The dark forces seduced them and they lost their way. It was sad for the other humans. They created so much mischief. Sometimes many people were hurt, sometimes only a few. It was difficult for humans to be strong all the time. The strongest humans were those who had faith in God.

But God also helped the humans by sending them the guardian angels and the children of light. In emergency circumstances, an angel could be sent to work through a strong, good human. Humans did not walk the earth alone. But they thought that they did. They thought that they were all powerful. They did not understand their place in the cosmos. It was a great pity. Because of their arrogance they brought so much suffering to themselves.

And there were souls that never learned. Generation after generation, and century after century, they were given the opportunity to become better. But they refused. The shortest Bible verse of all said it quite clearly.

"Jesus wept."

He knew that the evil would be difficult to conquer. It was really too bad that most humans were so blind and deaf to the world around them. They could not see the glowing auras of those they met. They could not hear the music of the spheres or the voices of their animal companions. They did not even know what they were missing. And, poor humans, they could only know what they could see and hear.

Unless they had faith.

"Blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe."

One of the great secrets of their race was that while their souls were between mortal lives, they knew of the past lives that they had lived. They knew their fate and their purpose in their next life. They had all the wisdom of their past lives. They understood all those around them. This knowledge and wisdom would always be a part of them, but when they were no longer infants, it would escape their human consciousness.

The root of the word "infant" was the Latin word _infans, _or "without speech." As they acquired the ability to speak and express themselves verbally, they lost this self-awareness until they once again returned to the other side. So Maisie knew that one day, this knowledge would slip away from her. Once she said her first word, she would be like any other baby learning to talk.

But their race was also different because they had the ability to access the universal consciousness. It gave them a second sight. They understood the minds and ways of other humans. These humans tried to understand by calling it ESP. They even thought that _they _could learn it. But it could not be learned. It could only be known.

One such as Auntie Trelawney, never fully lost contact with the other side, which was why she knew so many things. But she also lacked the ability to fully control herself. She would speak without thinking. There were many other things that she didn't understand. And she lacked the ability to defend herself. She was so sensitive to the emotions of others that she hurt when they did. And they had the ability to frighten her with their powerful feelings of anger and hate.

The dark forces had damaged Auntie Trelawney. She was too good for them. But they could not conquer her. They could only hope that by injuring her mind and spirit they could weaken her power to fight against them. Thus, Auntie Trelawney was more fragile than most like her. She had been saved by those who loved her. Some of them were not of their people. But Maisie knew that she must be there to help her when the time came.

She knew that it was odd that her father was an outsider. But she also knew that her parents had known each other and loved in a past lifetime. Because of this, their relationship was not so strange as it might have been. They had even created a child together. It was the soul of Auntie Trelawney who had inhabited that child. But it had been a dark time in human history. The child had not survived childhood after she lost both of her parents. It was a sad story told over and over throughout humankind.

Auntie Trelawney had not known in this lifetime that she wanted so desperately for them to marry again because she wanted to know that love again. Her restless soul had yearned for this through several lifetimes, but the odds had always been against one of their own meeting the same outsider she had known generations ago. But fate had brought her parents together so that Maisie might enter this world.

She had enjoyed the little meeting with Auntie's angel. She liked him because he loved them all so much. She had even had a little fun with him. She had demanded her Mummy's breast and then nestled close to her. She had shut down her mind to him. It had made him a bit confused. It was a lovely little trick on him.

She was very glad for him though. He took care of poor Auntie Trelawney so that she could stay with her and her Mummy. Mummy needed her and even Daddy realized that now. He needed her too. He had a special love for her but he did not know why. He would never know why. It was not allowed. So it was all very good. She knew that soon her Grammy would let go of her and Auntie Trelawney would return home. That was where she belonged.

She had loved her Grammy since the moment that she entered this world. She knew that she had cared for her Mummy, as well as Auntie Trelawney, while they waited for her to come. She had always known her Grammy's voice, just like Daddy and Auntie Trelawney's. It was a most special voice. It made her feel safe.

But Maisie knew that her days of knowledge of all her lives would soon come to a close. Then she would have to wait until she could speak to talk to Auntie Trelawney again. She knew that she would not even remember these days until she returned to the other side. Perhaps Auntie Trelawney would. But even if she did, she would never tell or even think it in her presence. It was not allowed.

**Epilogue**

Hal Everett was relieved when his parents returned from their short vacation on several counts. The first was that despite the fact that she never complained, Phoebe had missed her sister dreadfully. Intuitively, he sensed that the same was true of Maisie. His infant daughter already seemed inclined toward the Figalilly intuitions and sensibilities of the world around her. There were times when she was looking at him that he would swear that she knew what he was thinking.

He also missed that advice that his parents were always ready to give. His father always waited to be asked, but his mother frequently just offered it unsolicited. He hated to admit it, but her motherly concerns and occasional interferences were, for the most part, useful. And even when they didn't give advice, they provided a useful sounding board.

He himself missed Trelawney. Not only did she keep Phoebe happy, but Prudence as well. She not only entertained Prudence by playing with her, she also explained things to her in a way that she could understand. Even if no one else could. She also provided him with moral support. Unlike his own children, she never judged him or purposely gave him a hard time. He had not always appreciated her, but she loved him all the same. Hers was an unconditional love. It was a rare gift.

He was also looking forward to returning the dog Elspeth back over to her custody. Elspeth had been very upset when she was left behind. In the beginning she had refused to eat and had sulked, even when Phoebe tried to coax her out of her bad mood. Her primary purpose in life was to care for Trelawney and without her she seemed lost.

Once she got over the initial phase of her disappointment, she attached herself to Maisie and wherever the baby was, she was. She slept by the cradle at night and followed Phoebe and her around the house during the day. On the rare occasions that they took the baby out, she would park herself at the front door as they were leaving.

When they returned home, she was seated in the same spot, ready to assume her duties once again. After a while it was a little creepy, to always have the dog present and underfoot. She was no ordinary dog. Even Waldo could sense that. He never tried to distract her from her duties or play with her. He had overheard Sylvia tell Emmeline that the dog was a nosy little eavesdropper and an excellent tattletale. It gave him the feeling that he was living with a spy in the house.

It had been a great relief when Phoebe had packed Maisie up in the baby carriage and walked up to his parents' house when they returned. The dog, needless to say, happily trailed along behind them. However, he knew that once Trelawney returned, Elspeth would come with her. He sighed. Hopefully once she had Trelawney to focus on again, she would leave them alone.

After they left, naturally Prudence wanted to go as well. But Hal decided that Phoebe needed to be alone with Trelawney and that his parents to spend some uninterrupted time with Maisie before the rest of them came up. His son Hal could be trusted to be discreet about demanding their attention, but he knew that Butch couldn't wait for his Grampie to return. And Prudence wanted to make sure that she wasn't left out of anything.

He was more proud of Hal than he could adequately express. His son had left two months ago a boy and returned a man. It was not only the increased height and deepened voice. He had grown in maturity. He had always been helpful around the house, but now he seemed to be even more patient with Butch and Prudence than he was. Admittedly, it did not take a whole lot of patience to do that. His relationship with Phoebe had grown in depth and his love for his littlest sister was evident in his words and actions.

He personally enjoyed the fact that he had not only acquired a lot of scientific knowledge that summer, but his emerging intellect made him a fascinating discussion partner. They had always had a lot to talk about, but now he was finding himself less in the role of instructor and more as an interlocutor. Hal could spend hours conversing intelligently about the latest developments in science and mathematics. Hal had grown in his confidence of his own ideas. He was going to make a fine scientist some day.

Butch remained intransigent when it came to science and school in general. It was difficult for him to join in their conversations or even understand them enough to listen. His obsession with baseball seemed to have completely gripped him. He seemed to think of nothing else. Now that he was no longer playing baseball he spent as much time as they would permit him watching it on television. And if he wasn't watching it, he was reading about it in the sports magazines that he spent all of his allowance on.

It seemed that even Phoebe couldn't get through to him. Ever since she had come, she had always been able to talk to him when something was bothering him. Finally she said that they should just wait until Dad came home and let him have a go at it. At least, he was doing a lot of reading. It bothered him that he wasn't reading real books, but Phoebe soothed him by saying that reading was reading and to let him be.

When Tuesday came, it would be an odd day. He couldn't even remember any other time in his life when he would not be starting school, either as a student or a teacher. It seemed that he had gone straight from graduate school into university teaching. But once the children left the house, it would just be the three of them at home: Phoebe, Maisie, and himself. He was immensely looking forward to it.

He was pleased that Phoebe had recovered the previous vigor that she had had before she had become pregnant. In fact, she had more vitality than she had had at any time since before the death of her parents. After nearly two years, her previous _joie de vivre _had returned. It was as if the birth of the next generation was finally truly helping the scars of the loss of the previous generation to heal. One night she opened up to him about it.

"You know," he had remarked. "I believe that there will be a striking resemblance between Maisie and Trelawney. Despite the fact that Maisie's features have not yet really formed, the similarity is already unmistakable."

Phoebe had glowed with her old, familiar gentle smile.

"Trelawney's resemblance to our mother grows with every passing year," she replied gently. "It will be a great comfort to look at my daughter and see my mother looking out at me on occasion."

He smiled.

"I like that thought," he said. "It will always be a great regret of mine that I did not have the opportunity to know your parents. They must have been exceptional people to have raised two such exceptional daughters."

Phoebe looked down at the little girl thoughtfully.

"And I will always regret that my daughter will never know the lovely woman whose name she bears," she said quietly.

"I didn't mean to make you sad," he answered when he saw her change in mood.

"Regret is not the same as sadness," she answered. "I will always find enormous joy in my daughter. She is God's greatest gift in my life. But it is not merely because of who her grandmother was and how alike they are. It is also because of who her father is and alike they are."

"And it is the combination of these disparate elements that make her a unique individual," he commented.

"Yes," she replied.

Hal recalled that sweet moment now with pleasure. In a few minutes he would give in to the demands of his younger children and walk with them up the street to his parents' house. He gave a shout up the stairs for the three kids to get ready. Before he knew it, there was the sound of pounding feet on the stairs and they were walking up the street for a family reunion. He decided that family time was one of life's greatest treasures. He was going to make full use of it every chance that he got.

**The End**


End file.
